Sam in the (Nueva) Ciudad

Hola a todos!

Wow what a week this has been since I got back from Barcelona! I finished up my Madrid class and took my final, took a day trip to Toledo with my amigos, did some last minute exploring in Madrid, and then hopped on a bus for Granada yesterday. We got in last night right before dinner. Here in Granada, I'm staying with a host family in a flat about 5 minutes from my class. I have only been here a day but my host family has been incredibly gracious to my roommate and I (shout out to my roomie Suarez). They speak in Spanish in their home so it is proving to be a really exciting learning experience for me getting to know them... plus my host mom is a phenomenal cook (omg y'all). She made us paella for lunch today after our first day of class, which is a traditional Spanish dish of rice with seafood.

Given it's only our first day here in Granada, I haven't gotten to do much exploring yet, that starts after my siesta. I can tell you already though that this is a BEAUTIFUL city, smaller than Madrid, so be sure to stay tuned for pictures and info because we have some cool adventures planned...

Here are just a couple pics so far:

Flamenco Class

After our final, our University brought in a Flamenco teacher to show us a couple moves. Flamenco is a traditional Spanish dance. Typical Flamenco music consists of percussion (usually just clapping or tapping the feet) and guitar. I was told beforehand that the Flamenco is a tough dance to learn, but coming from a girl who has only taken hitting lessons in the place of dancing lessons... it was way more than tough! (lol) As part of our class in Granda, we will be attending a Flamenco show so it should be pretty funny seeing professionals dance in comparison to what me and my classmates tried to do.

Featuring Flat Jessie

Buscando a Dory

As part of our last day in Madrid, my friends and I found a local movie theater because we wanted to have an authentic Spanish movie theater experience. Naturally, we went to see Buscando a Dory (Finding Dory). SO GOOD! Lucky for me, Irene Gari, Spain native and recent graduate from the Georgia Tech Basketball team tagged along with some friends from Madrid, so I was able to ask her for help when they used words I didn't understand. Big shout out to Gari! If you're wondering how different a Spanish movie theater is... it's not different at all, down to the overpriced bucket of movie theater popcorn.

Whether it's Spanish or English, definitely see Finding Dory before it's out of theaters. I'm looking forward to seeing it again back in the States so I know just how much I understood....

Toledo, España

Toledo is a city in Spain only about 45 minutes by bus from my residence in Madrid.  Toledo is a city that is thousands of years old (yes dates back to BC times). The city itself sits up on a hill and is fortified by walls. The cobblestone streets that wind through the historic buildings are surrounded by a river and while it is small, walking the streets of Toledo proved to be pretty cool site-seeing in and of itself. There were big bridges crossing over the river, several delicious restaurants, good shopping, and great views of the countryside of Spain. Toledo is famous for several churches and cathedrals as well, definitely recommend researching because it’s incredibly historic. Check out some pics:

Photo by Kyle

Gates of Toledo

Featuring Flat Jessie

Anyways... Be sure to stay tuned for the next few blog posts because we have some really cool trips planned and Granada has some really cool places to explore so I'll be sure to keep track of it all for yah.

Thanks for keeping up everybody! Stay safe!

Hasta pronto!